Ahhhh the Mediterannean!

Anyone out there that is thinking about planning a trip to Europe should seriously consider traveling around the Mediterranean coast of Espanha by bicycle. Every 40km´s or so would take you to another coastline a little different from the last. South of Valencia the roads are less congested. Nice and flat, easily done by bicycle. Beautiful coastline with fine sandy beaches and mountains that lie just behind the beach a few kilometers away. I feel like a cheesy travel agent trying to sell a package. But seriously, if you want to lie on a beach and relax, this should be a consideration. Cervesas in a hammock, marguarita´s from a girl named Marguarita, a foot massage from a girl named Foot Massage. Alright enough of that!

We left Valencia on April the 13th on Steve´s birthday. What a wonderful city Valencia is. We once again slept in as we didn´t hear the alarm on my watch go off and we got a bit of a late start. We needed to cycle 120km´s up to a town called Alcala de Xibert for 9:00pm in the evening to meet our host Marc. We had a mild headwind for most of the day and it took us a good hour to get on a road that would take us in the right direction. After cycling on a road with craters the size of soccer balls we finally got going at a steady pace. Unfortunately the only road that was direct enough was a major highway that had heavy vehicular traffic. It was pretty much unhealthy to breath the air and cycle on this road.

We cycled into large city called Castello where we had lunch in a big park filled with palm trees and other large ferns and native plants. I must say that the Spanish and Europeans have it going on from an urban planning perspective. Almost every town has a huge pedestrian only urban park that is at least three city blocks long with lots of gardens and trees and playground equipment. We enjoyed a huge lunch of pasta beans and sandwiches. I can´t believe how much we eat. It´s embarrassing. Seriously.

We rode on towards Alcala de Xibert, passing by old castles and lots of lemon, orange and olive orchards. The oranges and lemons are in season right now. We rode through the headwinds and up a good hill with no shoulder and rigs passing us pretty close and into Alcala de Xibert. We went for Steve´s birthday dinner of calamari, Bacalao (Cod Fish) Cervesas and pizza.

We met up with our host and went out for a tour of the town. A bunch of people had gotten together and collectively purchased a space where members could hangout in town. It is awesome. A huge warehouse with lots of bicycles and spare parts. It also has a pictorial history of the Spanish revolution from 1936-1939. Fantastic place. The next morning we went to the beach and enjoyed a few beers before we went to another beach and enjoyed a few beers before going to interview a local farmer. Unfortunately I have come to the realization after smelling chemicals in various places throughout Espanha (especially now that we are in the agricultural region) that Espanha is sadly just as chemical dependant as us. The fellow that we interviewed was the one guy that the locals said would be organic, but unfortunately he said that he has to spray an insecticide to kill bugs. He said that that is the only thing he sprayed and he complained that people want perfect looking vegetables. You know, the kind of vegetables with heavy chemical residues found in supermarkets that pollute our waterways, contaminate our soil, kill the ants, worms, birds and other local native flora and give us cancer at epidemic rates to the tune of 1 in 3 people. Sorry for the rant but it is the sad truth. Fortunately there are over 180 registered WWOOFING (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) farms in Espanha. A huge number in comparison to other countries.

We decided at the days end to take a train to avoid the madness that is highway traffic and we went 150km´s to Tarragona. I forgot my passport and all my ID so I am having it mailed to me in France. Stupid Kevin!

The ride into Barcelona was probably the most scenic, breathtaking, scariest crap your pants rides I´ve ever been on. We rode uphill around 200 feet up the sides of mountains. We wound in and out of scenic looks to cliffs that were a 200+ foot plunge into the ocean below. Unreal. The whole way we had no shoulder. We were both being squeezed to the cliffs edge as big rigs came inches from us. At one point I turned around and saw a big rig chugging behind Steve, followed by 8 or 9 cars. Steve stopped to let the rig by and the rig stopped and told Steve to keep going, as there was no room. It was unnerving. Eventually the rig got around Steve. A few minutes later I got really scared. I went around a corner and the traffic in the other lane came to an abrupt stop. I thought the traffic stopped because there was no room around this corner with the rigs and us. Then BAM a car beside me slammed into the back of another car. The people got out of their cars and I stopped and looked back at the corner repeating over and over, “Come on Steve. Come on Steve. COME ON STEVE!” Then thankfully Steve came around the corner chugging it out slowly but surely. What a sigh of relief.

Then we had a great downhill into Barcelona. Barcelona has a few huge parks. The park beside the place where we are staying is called Park Guell. The park is situated 100metres half way up a mountain. Amazing trees and architecture are filled throughout the park. There are really neat old stone walls of weird dimensions and walkways on top of them running through the park. Little cafes are inside the rock of the mountain and they serve coffee and treats. Our hosts live one minute away from the park and have opened up their house and hearts to us. We enjoyed Paella for lunch the first day we were here and we have been treated like gold.

We are heading to Girona tomorrow and then on to the Pyrenees!

We give a huge thanks to Marc and his father and our other friends in Alcala de Xibert and thanks to Jorge for a one night stay in Barcelona and another humongous thank you to Ernest, Laurae, Vinyet and Maria in Barcelona for taking us in there home and treating us like family!

Until next time…..